Resealable box

ABSTRACT

A resealable box includes a plurality of peripheral panels connected to one another to form a frame body having a top opening and a bottom opening. A plurality of first cover flaps and second cover flaps extend from top and bottom sides of the peripheral panels and are alternatively arranged around the top opening and the bottom opening for covering the top opening and the bottom opening. A plurality of fasteners each have a first fastening member disposed at one of the first cover flaps and a second fastening member disposed at one of the second cover flaps and detachably coupled to the first fastening member for enabling the first cover flaps and the second cover flaps to close the top and bottom openings of the frame body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to packing boxes and moreparticularly, to a resealable box that can be reused conveniently.

2. Description of the Related Art

When delivering some items, people usually use a carton box to hold theitems to be delivered, and then use an adhesive tape to seal the top andbottom cover flaps of the carton box, well protecting the storage itemsduring delivery.

When wanting to open an adhesive tape sealed carton box, people usuallyuse a cutter to cut off the adhesive tape and then pull the adhesivetape away from the carton box. However, when pulling the adhesive tapeaway from the carton box, the box may still have residual strips ofadhesive tape on it, or the box may be damaged. As a result, the cartonbox may not be reusable.

Further, every factory uses a big quantity of carton boxes to pack theproducts before delivery. In order to save the packing cost, a factorywill usually recycle the carton boxes. Before use of used carton boxes,the worker must remove residual strips of adhesive tapes from the cartonboxes. However, it will take much time to remove the residual strips ofadhesive tapes from the carton boxes and clean the residual back glue,thereby increasing the working time and cost.

Taiwan patent no. 1271363 discloses an improved structure of carton box,which comprises a surrounding side panel and a plurality of cover flaps.The cover flaps are adapted to seal the surrounding side panel, eachhaving a positioning lug for positioning in the surrounding side panelto prevent displacement. However, this design still needs an adhesivetape to seal the cover flaps.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances inview. It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide aresealable box, which is reusable and resealable and convenient to open.

To achieve this objective of the present invention, the resealable boxcomprises a plurality of peripheral panels, first and second cover flapsand a plurality of fasteners. The peripheral panels are connected to oneanother to form a frame body having a top opening and a bottom opening.The first cover flaps and second cover flaps extend from top and bottomsides of the peripheral panels and are alternatively arranged around thetop opening and the bottom opening for covering the top opening and thebottom opening. Each of the fasteners includes a first fastening memberdisposed at one of the first cover flaps and a second fastening memberdisposed at one of the second cover flaps and detachably coupled to thefirst fastening member for enabling the first cover flaps and the secondcover flaps to firmly close the top opening and the bottom opening. Bymeans of the fasteners, the box provided by the present invention isreusable and resealable and convenient to open without using theadhesive tape, thereby saving much working time and enhancingconvenience in use.

In a preferred embodiment, the fastener is embodied as a hook and loopfastener having a hook member and a loop member. The hook member can beprovided at a distal side of the first cover flap remote from the framebody and the loop member adapted to be coupled to the hook member can beprovided at a middle part of the second cover flap. In addition, a hookmember can be further provided at a lateral side of the first cover flapand a loop member can be further provided at a proximal side of thesecond cover flap adjacent to the frame body in another preferredembodiment.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of a resealable boxaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing of the present invention, showing that thetop opening of the frame body is covered by the two second cover flaps;

FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, but showing that the bottom opening of theframe body is closed;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the present invention, showing that thebox is completely closed, and

FIG. 5 is a partially exploded perspective view of a resealable boxaccording to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, a resealable box 10 in accordance with a firstpreferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a frame body 20,four first cover flaps 30, four second cover flaps 40, and fourfasteners each of which includes a first fastening member 50 and asecond fastening member 60. According to this embodiment, the frame body20, the first cover flaps 30 and the second cover flaps 40 areintegrally made of a single piece of paper, plastics, or any of avariety of other suitable materials.

The frame body 20 is Formed of four peripheral panels 22 connected toone another, defining an opening 24 in each of the top and bottom sides.

The first cover flaps 30 respectively extend from the top and bottomsides of two opposite side panels 22 of the frame body 20, each having anarrow elongated mounting portion 32 disposed on the inner surface andtransversely extending along the distal (free) end remote from the framebody 20.

The second cover flaps 40 respectively extend from the top and bottomsides of the other two opposite side panels 22 of the frame body 20,such that the second cover flaps 40 and the first cover flaps 30 arealternatively arranged around the top and bottom openings 24 of theframe body 20. Each of the second cover flaps 40 has a narrow elongatedmounting portion 42 disposed on the outer surface and longitudinallyextending between two opposite sides thereof on the middle. The width ofthe narrow elongated mounting portion 42 of each second cover flap 40 isabout twice the width of the narrow elongated mounting portion 32 ofeach first cover flap 30.

The first fastening members 50 each are a strip of loop member of a hookand loop fastener and fixedly fastened to the narrow elongated mountingportions 32 of the first cover flaps 30 respectively. The firstfastening member 50 has a fastening face of loop material 52.

The second fastening members 60 each are a strip of hook member of thehook and loop fastener and fixedly fastened to the narrow elongatedmounting portions 42 of the second cover flaps 40 respectively. Thesecond fastening member 60 has a fastening face of hook material 62adapted to be coupled with the fastening face of loop material 52 of oneof the first fastening members 50. It can be easily understood that thefirst fastening member 50 can be embodied as a hook member of a hook andloop fastener and the second fastening member 60 can be a loop membercouplable with the hook member.

When using the resealable box 10 of the present invention to packthings, as shown in FIGS. 2-4, the user can fold the two first coverflaps 30 at the bottom side of the frame body 20 inwards, and then foldthe two second cover flaps 40 at the bottom side of the frame body 20inwards to force the fastening faces of loop materials (or hookmaterials) 62 of the respective second fastening members 60 intoengagement with the fastening faces of loop materials (or hookmaterials) 52 of the respective first fastening members 50 to firmlyclose the bottom opening 24 of the frame body 20, and then fold theother two first cover flaps 30 at the top side of the frame body 20inwards, and then fold the other two second cover flaps 40 at the topside of the frame body 20 inwards to force the fastening faces of loopmaterials (or hook materials) 62 of the respective second fasteningmembers 60 into engagement with the fastening faces of loop materials(or hook materials) 52 of the respective first fastening members 50 tofirmly close the top opening 24 of the frame body 20. Thus, the box 10is completely closed. When wanting to open the box 10 to take thestorage items, the user can separate the respective first cover flaps 30from the respective second cover flaps 40. After removal of the storageitems from the box 10, the box 10 is still maintained in a goodcondition for a repeat use. Compared with the conventional method ofusing an adhesive tape, the present invention needs not to clean theresidual back glue of the adhesive tape on the used box, saving muchworking time and cost.

FIG. 5 shows a second preferred embodiment of the resealable boxaccording to the present invention. This embodiment is substantiallysimilar to the aforesaid first embodiment of the present invention withthe exception that each first cover flap 30 of this second embodimenthas two second narrow elongated mounting portions 34 disposed on theinner surface and longitudinally extending along the two oppositelateral sides for the mounting of a respective additional firstfastening member 50, and each second cover flap 40 of this secondembodiment has a second narrow elongated mounting portions 44 disposedon the outer surface and transversely extending along the proximal endadjacent to the frame body 20 for the mounting of a respectiveadditional second fastening member 60 for fastening to the additionalfirst fastening members 50 at the second narrow elongated mountingportions 34 of the first cover flaps 20 to enhance the sealing strengthof the box 10. In general, the number of the first fastening members 50and second fastening members 60 may be changed subject to the desiredsealing strength.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A resealable box comprising: a plurality of peripheral panelsconnected to one another to form a frame body having a top opening and abottom opening; a plurality of first cover flaps and second cover flapsextending from top and bottom sides of the peripheral panels andalternatively arranged around the top opening and the bottom opening forcovering the top opening and the bottom opening; and a plurality offasteners, each of which includes a first fastening member disposed atone of the first cover flaps and a second fastening member disposed atone of the second cover flaps and detachably coupled to the firstfastening member for enabling the first cover flaps and the second coverflaps to close the top opening and the bottom opening.
 2. The resealablebox as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first cover flaps each have afirst mounting portion for the mounting of the first fastening member;the second cover flaps each have a first mounting portion correspondingto the first mounting portion of one of the first cover flaps for themounting of the second fastening member.
 3. The resealable box asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the first mounting portion of each of thefirst cover flaps extends along a distal side of the respective firstcover flap remote from the frame body; the first mounting portion ofeach of the second cover flaps extends along a middle part of therespective second cover flap.
 4. The resealable box as claimed in claim2, wherein the first cover flaps each further have a second mountingportion for the mounting of the first fastening member; the second coverflaps each further have a second mounting portion for the mounting ofthe second fastening member which is detachably coupled to the firstfastening member at the second mounting portion of one of the firstcover flaps.
 5. The resealable box as claimed in claim 4, wherein thesecond mounting portion of each of the first cover flaps extends along alateral side of the respective first cover flap; the second mountingportion of each of the second cover flaps extends along a proximal sideof the respective second cover flap adjacent to the frame body.
 6. Theresealable box as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first fastening memberis a hook member of a hook and loop fastener and the second fasteningmember is a loop member of the hook and loop fastener.
 7. The resealablebox as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first fastening member is a loopmember of a hook and loop fastener and the second fastening member is ahook member of the hook and loop fastener.
 8. The resealable box asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the first cover flaps and the second coverflaps are respectively and integrally formed with the top and bottomsides of the peripheral panels of the frame body.